Pymatuning State Park

Linesville, Pennsylvania

This is a challenging hike, not because it’s steep or difficult to follow but because it can be very wet at certain times of the year. The payoff is potentially large, though. You’ll see parts of the lakeshore that are rarely visited, perhaps spot a bald eagle or two, and wind up at the famous Linesville Spillway, “where ducks walk on the fishes’ backs” for food.
There are few hikes that are best suited to wearing hip boots, but the one that runs from Pymatuning State Park’s Tuttle Campground to the famous spillway in Linesville might be one of them. It’s wet, wet, and, in the bad spots, really wet. The trail is almost completely flat—it parallels the lakeshore, so there’s not a single grade to speak of—and more often than not winds its way through open woodlands, with red pines predominating.

This is a challenging hike, not because it’s steep or difficult to follow but because it can be very wet at certain times of the year. The payoff is potentially large, though. You’ll see parts of the lakeshore that are rarely visited, perhaps spot a bald eagle or two, and wind up at the famous Linesville Spillway, “where ducks walk on the fishes’ backs” for food.

There are few hikes that are best suited to wearing hip boots, but the one that runs from Pymatuning State Park’s Tuttle Campground to the famous spillway in Linesville might be one of them. It’s wet, wet, and, in the bad spots, really wet. The trail is almost completely flat—it parallels the lakeshore, so there’s not a single grade to speak of—and more often than not winds its way through open woodlands, with red pines predominating.